Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Covid-19 vaccine does not alter a person’s DNA, contain a microchip or cause infertility, says Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel. At Thursday’s virtual weekly press conference Newel debunked those myths about the vaccination and several others in hopes that...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday paved the way for its youngest students to return to class after spring break. Under the plan, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students will continue distance learning from 8:45-11:45am every day.  First graders will continue distance...

Gabe Medina and Marcus Cisneros had no idea how quickly their new media company, Calavera Media, would take off during the pandemic. Having started as a loose collective of creators, working with colleagues from Digital NEST and the greater filmmaking community of Watsonville, they officially...

SANTA CRUZ—REI, an outdoor retail business with 168 stores in 39 states, plans to open a location in Santa Cruz, the company announced on Feb. 18. The 22,622-square-foot store will be located at 1660 Commercial Way, the giant warehouse that formerly held Toys “R” Us....

SANTA CRUZ—The California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a 2018 law prohibiting anyone 14 or 15 years old from being tried as adults is constitutional. The ruling on Senate Bill 1391 means that Adrian “AJ” Gonzalez, who is accused of kidnapping, torturing, raping and...

A sense of normalcy returned to Santa Cruz County last week as the local high schools kicked off the cross country season. Watsonville High School squared off against Harbor High School on Feb. 18 in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League competition, which was the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday identified Patrick Diaz, 29, as a suspect in a Jan. 13 shooting that occurred on the 2500 block of Soquel Drive in Live Oak. Daniel Anthony Tostado, 19, of Watsonville, was arrested on Feb. 16 in...

WATSONVILLE—On Feb. 17 the Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) unanimously adopted the 2021 Cost of Service Rate Study and Resolution 2021-05. The move adopts procedures for public hearing, notice and protest concerning proposed revisions to charges for augmentation...

WATSONVILLE—The man who died Feb. 22 after being shot nine days earlier on the Pajaro River levee has been identified as Daniel Godinez, 46, a homeless man from Watsonville, Santa Cruz Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said Wednesday. Godinez was shot at least twice on Feb....

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The annual Latino Role Models conference will return for its 11th year—in a virtual format—Saturday from 9:30am-1pm. The free event was founded and is still organized by Senderos, a nonprofit that aims to create successful pathways for the Latinx community of Santa Cruz...